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Hi Martyn,Yes family got in the way of making Broadstairs. Looks like my next trip will be for TINGS 21, whilst I will be in Europe later this year I will only be in the UK for 4 days visiting family.cheersGraham

Evening all Martyn has asked me to post this on behalf of himself and Southern Gooner.

Dave/Southerngooner and I am currently jointly building an N2 tank for James St (and probably Saneham Tey as well). This is a bit difficult when Dave is in France, and I'm in north Essex!

The loco is a Shapeways 3D print from Atso-cad/Steviedc. Dave has contributed the Farish 3MTT chassis, and has altered the valve gear to suit. He has also made mounts for the body to fit the chassis.

I've done the work on the body. This includes handrails and knobs, replacement buffers, blower control, condensers and drains, vacuum pipes, and tank vents. I've still got to ballast it, the main drawback of 3D print bodies.

It almost seems a shame to paint it!

Next stage is a bit of cleaning up, and when the weather improves, Halford's rattle can plastic primer followed by a topcoat of Railmatch weathered black. Lining will be by Fox, if mine still works, and number/smokebox plate/power and RA by Railtec custom transfers. Varnish is still TBC.

One problem that I think 3D prints have is the weight; I've put lead sheet or shot in nearly all the spaces available, but not (yet) the bunker or cab roof. This gives an all-up weight of 49g, about the same as a Jinty, a little more than a J94, quite a bit more than the 03 diesel, but much less than my Langley N2 and N7 on Poole chassis.

A haulage test around my uneven and irregular test oval with radius 2 (?) setrack curves gave four heavy kit built coaches with ease, and at least six Blue Riband Mk1s-sufficient for its intended use, I think.

Steve has been advised, not surprisingly, that the next shows we were due to attend are cancelled: Portsmouth Victory (as per Dave's post below, by us not the club) and Railex/Aylesbury. This means that our next scheduled show will be Loughborough Soar Valley in late August, all being well, then Swansea and Wigan. All, of course, subject to what happens in the UK in the next few months.

Steve has decided to use this time to try and complete the upper level roundhouse and turntable. This will involve motorising the turntable, possibly some modifications to the number of shed roads, an office type building, water tower and coal drop: I think he is going to base the latter on an LTSR design. He then wants to change two buildings on the corner near the James St terminus. If this is completed, the next work will be stage one of the new harbour extension. Watch this space!

I think to be strictly correct Victory MRC have yet to cancel their exhibition scheduled for 4/5 April, but James Street has pulled out due to the risk to the operating team. I presume the club will cancel at some stage but their website still shows it going ahead.

I've managed to push ahead with it, but not without a couple of problems.

After priming and painting the body as outlined previously, I managed to line one side with the Fox lining I already had, but needed a new sheet for the other side. As usual, I sealed the matt weathered black topcoat with Klear varnish. I then managed to line one side with Fox transfers I already had, but I had to get a fresh sheet for the other side. All went well, so I then sealed the lining with Klear before giving a final varnish with original Dullcote.

Disaster!

The old lining on the first side all wrinkled and partly lifted. Thankfully the new lining wasn't affected. So I had to gently sand back the tank and bunker on the affected side, hand repaint them, and reline using the new lining. A coat of Klear again, and heart in mouth, Dullcote.

Success!

I presume the glue in the old sheet was past its use by date and had lost its adhesive properties.

Turned brass safety valves from N brass were added, and I'm now just adjusting the body to the chassis, as I was a bit too generous with the lead ballast, and have had to grind some off to clear the wheels. I'm just about there now, and hope to have it finished soon.

I'm pleased to say that the N2 is finished, and, at least to my eyes, looks rather good. The only thing I'm a little disappointed with is the haulage capacity; even with lead anywhere I could fit it (except in the bunker), its top load seems to be 4-5 Mk1s. But then again, for the duties envisaged on James St, this will be enough.

Steve sent a short video, and he has the turntable working on the test bed; after further testing, and some alterations to the shed roads, it will be installed.

He also measured up more accurately for the LTSR coaler, and found he hadn't quite enough space. So he has built a coaler based on (I think) Stranraer; this is a kit bashed Ratio coaler with a scratch built 'hut' alongside for the operators. A siding for the breakdown train/crane is also being investigated.

Dave and I are still building signals; there's still a long way to go with them...…and I've started the hull of the next ship for the harbour, but I've yet to decide how I'll finish it. After this one, Steve wants a collier, but I already have idea of how to do that.

And for proof of Martyn's skills as a loco builder here are pictures of the N2, ready for service on James Street. It is a wonderfully detailed model, and is a credit to Atso's excellent design and detailing of the 3D print. It is mounted on a Farish 3MT chassis donated by myself, making this the first collaboration between Martyn and I for many years!

Hi Guys. A quick one this. Who made your carriage sheds? Are they scratch built or a kit as i'm sure Ive seen one before and it looks like exactly what i want but despite lots of googling i cant find them. ThanksRichard

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You want the truth, you cant handle the truth. Welcome to the Fox news channel. (Andy Parsons)

The carriage shed is made from four Heljan wagon repair shed kits, but these haven’t been available for a long time. I actually made the shed for my own fledgling layout about fifteen years ago, and then Steve took it on for James Street. Another modeller has made a replica using Redutex sheeting if that is of any help.

I've posted an update to the James Street website today which covers a range of things that have happened or are in progress on the layout since it's last outing at Doncaster in February.

The big news is that the layout is being extended. Yes, many of you will think it's quite big enough already but Steve is adding 14" down the length of the layout next to the storage yards and 22" to the end with the dockyard. The aim is to have this functioning, if not fully detailed, by the layout's next outing. At the moment this is still planned to be Southend in November, but who knows with the ongoing virus problems.

There are also changes to other parts of the layout, including the roundhouse depot, the approaches to James Street, and the dock yard itself. Signals, yard lamps and street lighting are also under way, plus more stock of course.